Designing domestic flight network depending aircraft type and hub locations in Turkey

Models developed on Hub location problems and collect-distributive network structures have been used extensively for the last 20 years especially in transportation and telecommunication fields. In this network, a centrally located facility serves as the main distribution base (Hub). Flows from other facilities are collected and grouped in the hub. This centralization and expansion of the operational network bring the advantage of economies of scale. In terms of airline companies, the flight network in the form of a distributor increases the profit of airline companies and provides significant savings in costs. In this study, it is aimed to give a new dimension to hub location problems. The effects of aircraft types characteristics on hub locations were investigated. Aircraft selection progressed by using five different multi criteria decision making methods based on the performances of airplanes and characteristics of air transport. Then mixed integer linear models for multi-assignment p-median hub problem and for flight legs and routes have been developed. Models were coded using GAMS 24.1 licensed software and CPLEX solver was used to solve multi-assignment p-hub median problem. It was concluded that the constraints and parameters used in the models had a significant effect on hub site selection and assignment. In addition, flight networks have been designed under different scenarios. It has been shown that the developed models can be used in the solution of the problem of determining the most suitable aircraft according to the different flight routes of the airline companies.